Interchangeable sectional picture



J. A. DAILEY April 21, 1936.

INTERCHANGEABLE SEGTIONAL PICTURE Filed July 21, 1953 j //5 //5 'qii 7 In! /V A 1 III iq INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 21, 1936 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE INTERCHANGEABLE SECTIONAL PICTURE- Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in interchangeable sectional pictures.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device which may be held in any normal position 5 of use, independently of a table or other support, and in which pieces somewhat similar to those of a jig saw puzzle may be interchanged with one another to provide a series of different pictures preferably having some fundamental underlying idea in common. By way of illustration, I have shown the figure of a child which, by means of interchanging sections of the picture, may be provided with different hats or different clothing, the face being used in common for all of the 5 different sets of interchangeable sections.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is also possible by means of this invention to interchange the picture sections making up the back-ground so as to provide a suitable setting for each attire in which the childs figure appears. If desired, the central figure of the picture may be left unchanged and different background settings may be provided therefor. In effect, that is what is done when the child's pic- 25 tured face remains the same in all the views,

and the interchangeable sections provide different costumes. The invention may be used, however, to show a ship in the midst of a mountain lake or, interchangeably, in a background set- 30 ting showing an ocean scene.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an educational toy sufiiciently simple to be used and enjoyed by children, more substantial than paper dolls, and also having elements of 35 instruction in the use of color harmonies and otherwise. For example, the invention may be applied to a map in which one set of sections receivable into a given frame might portray Europe as of 1912, and another set of sections receivable interchangeably into the same frame would depict Europe as of 1920. The presence of the permanent frame not only facilitates the use of the device by young children, but also unifies the various interchangeable sets by providing an out- 45 line into which all of them must alternatively be fitted.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a completely assembled device embodying the invention.

Figure 2 and Figure 3 are plan views of alternatively interchangeable parts adapted to be substituted for corresponding parts in the Figure 1 design to provide an interchange of costume for association with the face shown in 55 Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the board and frame preferably used with the device.

Figure 5 is a view in cross section taken from the line indicated at 5-5 in Figure 4.

Like parts are designated by the same refer- 5 ence characters throughout the several views.

As above noted, the device is preferably made to include .a frame l5 completely encircling the area into which the sectional parts are to be assembled. The inner perimeter of the frame I5 10 is preferably irregular as shown at 16 to provide a margin with which the interchangeable sections must be interfitted.

For convenience, and to enable the device to be used at any reasonable position, as for examl5 ple, by a child in bed, the frame 55 is preferably supplied with a background board I! permanently attached to the frame, so that the frame and board together comprise a shallow tray into which the sectional pieces are receivable. 20

It is contemplated that in devices embodying the invention, there will be some one or more pieces common to all of the interchangeable sets and serving to unify their functions. The frame l5 may comprise a part of the picture permanently fastened to the board. Any other part of g the picture common to all of the interchangeable sets may also, if desired, be permanently fastened to the board II. In the device chosen to illustrate the invention, the face of the figure and the right hand of the figure are common to all of the various interchangeable sets. The right hand is on a section which is not made fixed to the board, but the face section l8 may be glued permanently to the board as shown in Figure 4. I

The cut out will preferably be arranged so that it will be possible to interchange the various costumes with a minimum interference with such background sections as those designated by ref- 0 erence characters l9 and 20. Furthermore, the background sections are preferably made as shown in Figure 1 so that those sections l9 and 20 immediately adjacent the interchangeable sections will interlock with the frame I5 and be held thereby against displacement while a child is manipulating the interchangeable sections. Within the background sections I9 and 20 there is a well-defined outline represented by the line at H which is continuous about the largest of the interchangeable sections. It will be noted that if all of the sections within line 2| are removed, the costume shown in Figure 2 may be substituted completely therefor.

There are small sections at 22 and 23 used with the small hat section at 24 to compensate for the larger space required by the hat section 25 in the Figure 2 ensemble. Where an intermediate hat size and shape is used, as shown in Figure 3 at 26, the areas 26 may be left blank upon the section carrying the hat.

For convenience, of illustration, the background sections have been left blank in the present disclosure. It will be understood, however, that they may also be interchangeable and may carry scenery suitable for a particular costume. Thus, a child using the device will learn to select a color and style of hat in harmony with the color and style of the costume employed. The child will also learn what type of costume is suitable for use in a particular setting such as may be pictured on the background.

It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art how the idea may be applied to different types of pictures, such as the maps above mentioned, in which the sea and land surrounding the continent of Europe may comprise the permanent frame within which the sections representing the different countries are interchangeably assembled.

I claim:

1. A sectional picture comprising the combination with a suitable support having an area adapted to receive interchangeable picture sections, of a section fixed thereto at a point centrally disposed within said area and a plurality of separable sections adapted to be fitted about said key section at all sides thereof, and to be interchanged with other sections likewise complementary to said key section.

2. A sectional picture comprising the combination with a set of separable sections, of a shallow tray comprising a supporting board, and a frame complementary to said sections, a special key section about which other sections are interchangeably removable being secured to said tray in a central position between which and said frame said other sections are interchangeably fitted both to said key section and to said frame and to each other.

3. In a sectional picture, the combination with a frame comprising a back and a border, of a key section secured to said back in spaced relation to margins of said border, a set of other sections interchangeably and removably associated with said key section to comprise with said key section the changeable principal object of the picture, and a set of semi-permanent sub-frame sections substantially continuous beside and removably interfitting with said other sections and interlocked with the ends of said border against relative displacement during the changing or manipulation of said other sections, said subframe sections serving as parts of a sub-frame laterally spaced from the sides of the border and within which the said other sections representing the object are freely interchangeable.

4. A device of the character described comprising the combination with a supporting back board and a frame of irregular contour, of a picture section centrally disposed upon said back board and having the general contour of a persons head, body sections interchangeably associated with said picture section and irregularly contoured to be assembled with each other in the total outline of the clothed figure of a body for said head, sub-frame sections substantially continuous beside said head and body sections from one side of said frame to the other and being releasably interlocked with said frame for the releasable retention of said body and head sections in assembled relation, and a plurality of background sections irregularly contoured to be interfitted with each other and with said subframe and frame between each of said sub-frame sections and the adjacent side of said frame.

5. A device of the character described comprising the combination with a supporting back board and a frame of irregular contour, of a picture section centrally disposed upon said back board and having the general contour of a persons head, body sections interchangeably associated with said picture section and irregularly contoured to be assembled with each other in the total outline of the clothed figure of a body for said head, sub-frame sections substantially continuous beside said head and body sections from one side of said frame to the other and being releasably interlocked with said frame for the releasable retention of said body and head sections in assembled relation, and a plurality of background sections irregularly contoured to be interfitted with each other and with said sub-frame and frame between each of said sub-frame sections and the adjacent side of said frame, said sub-frame sections having portions extended to said head section between interchangeable body sections.

JAMES A. DAILEY. 

